Health official: China-born virus has ‘low but theoretical’ chance of reaching Georgia
The new strain of a coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. Photo: Reuters.
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Head of the Georgian National Disease Control Centre Amiran Gamkrelidze stated earlier today that there is a ‘low chance” that a new strain of a coronavirus which has killed nine in China may reach Georgia.
However, a theoretical chance of the virus spreading to Georgia exists,” Gamkrelidze says.
He urged the public to refrain from traveling to Wuhan, a city of almost nine million in China where the virus first emerged.
If you decide to travel anyway, avoid contact with sick people, animals, animal or seafood markers, do not eat thermally unprocessed meat, wash hands frequently,” Gamkrelidze said.
He urged those visiting China to “immediately address doctors” if they have respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath or breathing difficulties, which are the symptoms of the new, 2019-nCoV virus, spreading from human to human.
Amiran Gamkrelidze has urged public to refrain from travelling to the Chinese city which is the centre of outbreak. Photo: Georgian National Disease Control Centre press office.
The virus has already spread from Wuhan to several provinces in China, the US, Thailand and South Korea.
BBC reports there are 440 confirmed cases of the virus, with the origin a seafood market in Wuhan that "conducted illegal transactions of wild animals".
Chinese health officials say that there are 2,197 people who were known to have come into contact with infected patients.
China fears that the number of infected people will rise as millions of people are travelling within the country for the Lunar New Year holiday [between January 25 and February 8] and thousands are also travelling abroad during and after the holiday.
Parents of Georgian schoolchildren have requested the winter-spring school session commence later than scheduled to the spread of the acute respiratory illness H1N1, also known as the swine flu. A total of 158 cases of H1N1 have been reported in the country this winter – the illness has claimed ten lives.
Seventeen people have died because of the H1N1 acute respiratory illness in Georgia, which is also known as swine flu, the Georgian National Disease Control Centre says.
Georgia is continuing to implement prevention measures to be sure that every person who enters the country from the Ebola virus high risk countries in Africa is healthy, says National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) representative Khatuna Zakhashvili.
There is minimal fear the deadly Ebola virus will enter Georgia as the country has activated tough measures to screen potentially infected persons, says the country’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Passengers travelling from China to Georgia are being examined for a new strain of the coronavirus that originates in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Georgian doctors are examining passengers as well as providing them with information on the symptoms of the virus upon arrival.
The Georgian Health Ministry has dismissed reports by Georgian media outlet Alia that medical personnel have refused to check air passengers at Tbilisi International Airport for a new strain of the China-born coronavirus “due to a lack of proper equipment and safety guarantees.”Alia cited one of the doctors as saying that medical personnel were not given proper safety equipment during the checks at the airport “which places our and the lives of our family members at risk” if an infected individual comes into the country.
Georgia has plans to evacuate at least five of its citizens from Wuhan, Hubei province of China - the epicenter of the outbreak of the new coronavirus, and ‘temporary suspend’ direct flights from the country as the death toll in China already stands at 106. Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze says that a special meeting will take place later today to decide how to evacuate the Georgian citizens from Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, which is now in a lockdown with strict transport restrictions in and out of the area.
Import of live animals from China have been banned to prevent transmission and spread of the China-born coronavirus on the territory of Georgia, reports the Georgian Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said that the healthcare system is ready to efficiently respond to the challenge of the coronavirus if it appears in Georgia.
Georgian citizens are being evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province, where the new coronavirus originated. Turkey has evacuated three Georgian citizens among other passengers, while France has evacuated two. Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has thanked both countries for arranging flights.